For a second there, it was just all so strange.

The Mustangs first touchdown of the season. An undersized quarterback drops two steps and hands off to a long-haired, scraggly running back who ekes around the right tackle and scrambles into the end zone for the major. The diminutive quarterback starts hopping backwards, arms raised in the air, as the crowd erupts.

Then on defence, a skinny defensive back with a shaved head who faded to the background for much of his 2009 rookie campaign leaps into the air three times and comes down each time with the ball — already besting his 2009 interception total in just the first game of the season.

Who are these people?

This will be the story of the Mustangs in the 2010 season’s infancy. Can the offensive replacements make plays and put up the same big points as their predecessors? Can the defence rise to the occasion and take some pressure off a relatively inexperienced offence?

Both units did just that in a game that couldn’t have possibly gone any better for the Mustangs — a veritable manhandling of the Laurier Golden Hawks, 46-1 at TD Waterhouse Stadium Wednesday night.

It’s true that defence wins ball games — Western’s did just that on Wednesday night, holding Laurier to a mere point. Much of that is due to the stellar play of linebackers Craig Butler, Jason Kosec and John Surla who picked up four tackles a piece. Meanwhile, defensive back Mike Spence couldn’t have started his sophomore year any better with three interceptions.

The fact that the Golden Hawks, who have one of the best offences in the conference, were held to just eight first downs and 157 yards of offence is a huge indication of just how well the Mustangs defence played.

Of course, there was also Donnie Marshall, beginning his season-long quest to silence his critics. We haven’t had much of a chance to see Marshall throw the ball in his first two years with the team — his dad wouldn’t even give him snaps when Michael Faulds was playing on one leg.

But what we can take away from his early season work is that Marshall is a lot more polished than most give him credit for. He’s taking his drop quick and releasing the ball even quicker, trusting his receivers to do the rest of the work. The Mustangs certainly don’t have the league’s best offensive line but that won’t matter if Marshall is able to distribute quickly like he did on Wednesday.

And those legs. Head coach Greg Marshall wasn’t kidding when he said his son Donnie was the second fastest player on the team behind Nathan Riva.

The third-year pivot picked up 65 yards on the ground and showed a combination of speed and elusiveness that may be his greatest weapon. When you can pick up first downs on the ground as a quarterback, it goes a long way to freeing up those receivers downfield.

But that’s it. There will be no more talk of how well Western played. There will be no homerist headlines about message sending or making statements or proving anyone wrong. It’s just too early to plan the parade.

There’s a game at hand in Ottawa this weekend that will be a much tougher test. And a game that may bring a lot of Mustangs fans back down to earth.

Because really, for as well as Western played — Laurier made them look good.

It would be one thing to say that Laurier didn’t play their best football on Wednesday night, but the truth is they played just about as poorly as they possibly could have.

Everyone agrees that this Golden Hawks team should be a contender. Just look at the weapons they have on offence — they should be putting up at least 26 points a game like they did last year or even more. Mustering just a measly point in their opener is not an indication of how this unit is going to play.

Sure — if the Golden Hawks don’t beat McMaster next week their chances at a first round playoff bye are probably gone with the wind. But with two home games against Toronto and York on the horizon, this team is easily still in contention for a playoff spot. And in the hyper-competitive OUA, once you make the playoffs anything can happen.

But maybe I’m wrong.

Maybe Laurier isn’t the contender that we all thought they were coming into the season.

Maybe Western is stronger than they were in 2009, despite the entire nation believing they’ve been weakened by the losses of the graduated Michael Faulds and the injured Nathan Riva.

Maybe this is the year when you just don’t know what’s going to happen in the OUA.

Maybe this is the year that the University of Toronto can come within two points and a last second field goal of upsetting the Guelph Gryphons — a 2009 playoff team that had the OUA’s second best offence.

Maybe this is the year that McMaster can defeat the defending Vanier Cup champions.

Maybe this is the year where predictions, pre-season rankings, prognostications and the like are more useless than usual. Maybe this is the year where it’s really anybody’s game.

If week one was any indication, one thing’s for sure — it’ll be fun to watch.

But coming into the 2010 OUA football season, one thing is clear — this year’s competition is truly a crapshoot. Five of the ten…. errr nine teams have a legitimate shot at advancing to the Yates Cup, which is why the myriad of preseason rankings that currently litter the internet are kind of incredibly pointless.

So in lieu of irrelevant rankings based on silly things like talent, coaching or personnel, I’ve accumulated rankings based on optimism — ordered from those with the highest aspirations going into the season to the teams wallowing in despair.

As Larry Dobrow — whose awesome weekly MLB  power rankings and MLB optimism index are the inspiration for this experiment — put it, “think of it as a power rankings for your feelings.”

So here it is — your first ever OUA optimism rankings, along with selected notes and an optimism measure which I assure you is entirely arbitrary and based on absolutely nothing.

Photo by Jeff Chan

All photos courtesy of the incomparable Jeff Chan.

Ottawa Gee Gee’s — 96.4 — Aggressively confident

• The Gee Gee’s are singlehandedly keeping Ottawa bus drivers in business with their annually atrocious travel schedule. They get a bit of a break by drawing a date in Kingston and a bit of a kick in the teeth by opening their season in Windsor. It’s only 800 km…
• Of course, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. The Gee Gee’s went 4-0 on the road in 2009 but just 2-3 at home including their 27-15 playoff loss to McMaster.
• Tough to pinpoint why, but the Gee Gee’s have under-performed the last few years. Will rookie head coach Jean-Philippe Asselin — who, at 27-years-old, could probably play on this team — help shake them out of their funk?
• QB Brad Sinopoli is suddenly the most experienced pivot in the league after the three musketeers (Faulds, Brannagan, Dunk) moved on. He had a quietly impressive season — 11 touchdowns, 2084 yards — in 2009
• The team will field a starting lineup made up almost entirely of fifth year players — I guess they just like education that much…
• I’d love to make more fun of the Gee Gee’s here, but I’m struggling — this team actually looks really good.

Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks  — 90.2 — Firmly undaunted

Dillon Heap and head coach Gary Jeffries. Photo by Jeff Chan.

• This could be trouble. Taurean Allen is off to the CFL, Chime Ihekwoaba is gone to the NFL and Courtney Stephen is lost to the NCAA. Suddenly one of the scariest defences in the league doesn’t look so frightening.
• What they do have is a nifty training camp video featuring the Remember the Titans — “Are you sure football is fun!?!?!?” —  ‘run up and down the stadium stairs workout.
• Dillon Heap returns with his Tasmanian devil routine on kick returns. He’s easily the most exciting returner in the OUA.
• Meanwhile, University of Waterloo deserter Dustin Zender crosses University Ave. to join the Golden Hawks receiving corps and take some of the weightoff the shoulders ofHeap and Shamawd Chambers .
• No wonder the quarterback position is such a big question mark for so many OUA teams this year — Laurier is hogging all of them. They have three quarterbacks (incumbent Luke Thompson, last year’s second stringer turned starter Evan Pawliuk and NCAA transfer Shane Kelly) who can easily play well in this league. Someone’s not going to be happy with their playing time in that locker room.
• Not much to see on defence but if your ridiculously loaded offence can score 50+ points a game, what does it really matter?
• Slot back Vince Luciani has easily the best twitter account in the CIS. Never underestimate the value of street cred.
• Running back Mike Montoya and his Jersey Shore arms bench pressed 225 lbs 40 times at the CFL’s evaluation camp last year. Of course those wel-sculpted guns don’t really help when it comes to holding onto the football — he had more fumbles than touchdowns last season. But when you lead the league in rushing I suppose it doesn’t really matter.

McMaster Marauders — 88.7 — Discreetly promising

• There is legitimate reason to be optimistic here. The Marauders kind of resemble the 2009 Queen’s Gaels — a solid core of cohesive veterans who have been playing together for years. Add a division weakened by losing its top three quarterbacks and it could be a perfect storm for a McMaster run in the playoffs this year. Seriously…
• Sometimes it’s easy to forget that CIS football players are also full time students enrolled in anywhere from three to five courses per semester. Apparently Marauders cornerback Cody Lynch forgot about that too — after being named the OUA rookie of the year in 2009 he promptly flunked out of school.
• Marauders kicker Andrew Waugh was 9 for 12 on field goals last year which apparently wasn’t good enough to stop McMaster from recruiting kicking wizard Tyler Crapigna who may just be the next Rob Maver. Nice knowing ya, Andrew.
• Head coach Stefan Ptaszek’s name may be hard to pronounce, but he’s one of the craftier coaches in the OUA and hasn’t had a losing record in the regular season since he took over in 2006.
• The Marauders are probably regretting whatever they have done to scorn the OUA schedule-maker — they play Queen’s, Laurier, Western and Ottawa in their first four games.

Western Mustangs — 85.3 — Cautiously optimistic

Donnie Marshall (7) chats with his father and head coach Greg Marshall, left, and his predecessor Michael Faulds, right. Photo by Jeff Chan.

• Michael Faulds, who carried the team — sometimes on just one leg — for the past five years, is gone — off to York to pursue a career in coaching.
• Who will step up to fill the void? Donnie Marshall, the coach’s son? Ben Rossong, the incoming east coast phenom?  Jack Fairs, the former Mustangs basketball, hockey and tennis athlete who also played both ways for the football team and is currently the Mustangs squash coach? Okay maybe that last one is a stretch. But nevertheless, intrigue!
• Defensive Lineman Mike Van Praet is healthy — well, as healthy as you can be at 300+ pounds — and was recently described as a “dyke” by the London Free Press. Ummm… sure! UWO will just be happy if he can fill the void left by Chris Greaves who now plies his trade for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
• Running back Nathan Riva will be busy. If he can run for 200 yards a game like he did in the playoffs last year then maybe this team has a chance! Look for timeless head coach Greg Marshall — he’s still got it! — to call his own number and take over the running back duties if Riva falters.
• And as I write that Riva tears his hamstring in training camp. Panic! Does anyone have Da’Shawn Thomas’ cell number?
• Lil’ Wayne fan and occasional Gazette model John Surla — the 2009 OUA defensive player of the year — still patrols the secondary at TD Waterhouse, which is bad for opposition running backs but good for trash talk enthusiasts.
• WR Brian Marshall — son of head coach Greg, brother of QB Donnie, nephew of 80’s era FB Blake, not related to former Golden State Warriors small forward Donyell — joins the team as the Marshall brood’s plan to turn the Mustangs into a family business continues to evolve.
• Thanks to the wisenheimers at Waterloo, the Mustangs now open the season with three games in 11 days.
• My office is on the campus of the University of Western Ontario so be my guest and question this, but I think this Mustangs team is being seriously under-rated in pre-season polling.

Queen’s Gaels — 83.1 — Basking in the glow

• The good news is they’re still technically the national champions until November 27. The bad news? They lost the entire core of their team. Minor detail…
• Last season the Gaels’ offensive line was a lot like the mother hen at the bar on Saturday night — nothing was getting through that. But with several new faces this season, things could get rather uncomfortable for the Gaels quarterback…
• Oh yeah, who the hell is going to play quarterback? Justin Chapdelaine would seem to have the inside track, but he’s going to have a steep learning curve. He was sacked three times in the extremely limited action he saw last season. A point of reference? Danny Brannagan — who took 98% of the snaps — was sacked just five times all season…
• Whoever gets the call behind centre will certainly have some targets to throw too. Devan Sheahan, Blaise Morrison and Chris Ioannides will spread defences like butter.
• The defence is Osie Ukwuoma’s unit now, I guess. But when your best defensive player past him is probably sophomore Frank Pankewich, we may have a problem.
• I will say this — Ben D’Andrea, Alex Daprato and Stephen Laporte picked up their games defensively in the 2009 playoffs when it counted. Especially in the Vanier Cup.
• Of course the biggest advantage for the Gaels is Richardson Stadium, the dilapidated grassy abyss… I mean… football field they play on. They haven’t lost a regular season game at home since 2007.

The Gaels offensive line was their mother hen in 2009. Photo by Jeff Chan.

Gryphons — 73.4 — Shaken resolve

• Good news for people who like bad news — the Gryphons lost easily their three best players from 2009 in QB Justin Dunk, K Rob Maver and OL Ryan Bomben.
• Standout running back Nick FitzGibbon is still around but past him things get real iffy on the offensive side of the ball which is traditionally a strength for the Gryphons.
• True story — Dunk is the sports editor for the Guelph student newspaper The Ontarion this year. Objectivity is overrated anyway…
• We are talking about optimism here and, quite frankly, second year QB Chris Rossetti doesn’t inspire confidence in anybody.
• Conventional wisdom says defence wins football games so respect to the Gryphons for thinking outside the box by not fielding one. This is easily still one of the worst defensive units outside of metropolitan Toronto. They allowed an astronomical 490 yards per game last season.
• Another true story — At last year’s homecoming game, the nor’ westerly wind caught the cloud of marijuana smoke that hung over Guelph campus and blew it down onto the sidelines of the Western Mustangs. The Gryphons were almost able to beat their suddenly timid and hungry foes, but Western held on for the 41-39 win. Good try, fellas…
• Incoming Head Coach Stu Lang — who won hearts when he said he would coach the team if they only paid him a dollar — brings two full time coordinators with him who should help over-complicate things for this young Gryphons squad.
• New coaching staff, same atrocious defence, young yet underwhelming offence — this is a team just trying to tread water

University of Toronto Varsity Blues — 60.3 — Gaining courage

• Oh, silly U of T. Investing all of your money into academics and research instead of athletics. Idiots…
• The Blues are actually fairly excited about their backfield this year. Really, no joke. Walter Cariazo — who is deceptively speedy — returns to battle for snaps with University of Toledo — like, the NCAA division one University of Toledo — transfer Chris Weiland and prized recruit Keema Nnawuchi.
• Here’s a reason for optimism: They have the Neate Sager bump. The CIS guru — and unabashed Queen’s supporter — actually picked this team to finish 3-5 and earn the sixth and final OUA playoff spot.
• Here’s a reason to forget about that optimism: the team does not have a defence. They gave up 500 yards per game last season and didn’t make a single significant addition to the unit in the off season.
• Andrew Gillis is back behind centre. Surely he’s familiar with the playbook but it doesn’t really matter when half your snaps just turn into scrambles anyway. If only he had some semblance of an offensive line we could actually see what it’s like when he passes the ball.
• The Varsity Blues are kind of like Entourage — Any given week you might get a good surprise individual performance but as a whole it’s pretty bad.

Windsor Lancers — 42.1 — Secure with own inadequacy

• Wait, these guys still have a team?
• Kinda like how standing next to the pimply kid with the lazy eye in class pictures always made you look better by comparison, not much attention has been paid to the Lancers’ futility in recent years because, well, York and Toronto are just a bit better at being terrible.
• The Lancers made absolutely zero sense in 2009, only managing to beat the putrid York Lions by three points and allowing Waterloo to shut them out 49-0, while at the same time losing to McMaster by just a point and putting up a good fight against Ottawa in the final week of the season. Why don’t things ever just happen the way they’re supposed to in this league?
• Say what you will about the Warriors, they certainly make things interesting. They managed to lose to McMaster in overtime last year when they blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown only to have the play negated by a blocking penalty, giving McMaster a single point and the win.
• I really, really want to mention a couple notable incoming players for this season, but it’s just a wasteland of poor recruiting and misused resources.
• Their perceived advantage in American recruitment — Like Brett Favre’s retirement and hangover-free beer — was unfortunately just too good to be true.
• There is a very real possibility that this team could drop below Toronto if they don’t get their act together. And that’s something I never thought I would write.

York Lions — 24.9 Soul-crushing despair

• Optimism? What is this optimism that you speak of?
  

  York quarterback Nickolas Coutu. Photo by Jeff Chan.

• True optimists will tell you that, like Shania Twain in a basement elevator, the Lions can only go up from here. Unless they somehow get worse this year — which is actually a possibility…
• Last season the Lions defensive strategy basically consisted of trying to hold the opposing team to under 50 points — a feat they only accomplished in half their games…
• The last time York won a game? September 29, 2007 when they beat the University of Toronto 21-20 in a barn burner that saw both teams punt for more yards than they collected offensively. We’d all like to pretend that debacle never happened, but until York wins again — don’t hold your breath — it’s a part of history…
• The season should get off on the right foot — the Lions chose to play their only preseason game against perennial Vanier Cup favourites Laval for reasons that can only be explained as masochistic.
• Unless they can figure out how to multiply his DNA and begin farming an army of football players in his mold, it’s doubtful that former Mustangs QB and CIS all-time leading passer Michael Faulds can save this offence as its new coordinator.
• But look on the bright side, not many teams boast offensive coordinators who are better athletes than the majority of the team. So they’ve got that.

Waterloo Warriors — 2.9 — Awkwardly lingering

• Waterloo looks to challenge this year with a good core of returning players plus a talented class of incoming recruits. They’ll have strong contributions from…
• What’s that? They arrested who? And the school did what? For the entire season? Oh… This is awkward….

Watch out Western, now there’s two Takahashis in town.

Steven Takahashi, top recruit and son of Mustangs head coach Ray Takahashi, will be joining Western’s wrestling squad for the upcoming season. Seen as one of the top young wrestlers in Canada, Steven is expected to make an immediate impact on the team.

“Steven is one of the top recruits entering university this year and he will substantially contribute to our team,” coach Takahashi said.  “I’m fortunate to be able to continue to be a part of his development and I’m also happy that other members of the coaching staff at Western and our affiliate club, London-Western, will continue to work with him.”

Not only is it in his genes, but Steven’s successful development into a world-class wrestler can also be attributed to his all-around athletic ability. Despite participating in both competitive soccer and cross-country throughout his life, ultimately Steven decided to follow in the family tradition.

“I was always around the sport due to my father, but I was heavily involved in other sports,” he said. “It wasn’t until grade nine that I knew wrestling was the sport I wanted to focus on.”

However, even with his father’s involvement in the sport, Steven insists that choosing wrestling was his own decision.

“My dad never told me to start wrestling, but his career definitely had an influence on me,” the younger Takahashi said. “He’s always been an inspiration to me, so in a way I wanted to be like him.”

Whatever the reason, Western is fortunate that Steven chose to pursue wrestling as a Mustang. Already in his short career, Steven has experienced a wealth of success, including three Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations gold medals, first place at the 2010 Juvenile Nationals, and most recently a second place finish at the Junior Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Nicaragua.

Steven won his first three matches before losing to a competitor from the Dominican Republic in the final.

“He won two matches in third-round tie-breakers, so he was able to stay tough and win two close matches,” Ray said. “It’s a good quality to have to be able to win the close ones against top opponents.”

Always the harsher critic, Steven was less forgiving about his silver medal performance.

“Coming in second is always a little disappointing, but I am satisfied,” he said. “I’m still young for the junior age class which is 20 and under, so it’s a little comforting knowing I still have a couple more years.”

More than anything, the experience and success at the international level has instilled confidence in Steven, which will help make his transition into the Canadian Interuniversity Sport level competition seamless. With continuous training and improvements in his strength and technique, Ray is confident that Steven will quickly become the best wrestler competing at the university level.

“Steven has the potential to be the top wrestler in Canada in his weight at the senior level,” coach Takahashi said.

With a strong recruiting class, alongside plenty of returning veterans, the future looks promising for Western’s wrestling team.

“My goals and expectations for my career at Western are simple. To get a good education and to do well at the Ontario University Athletic and CIS championships,” Steven said. “Hopefully I can be a part of winning an OUA or CIS team title.”

A month later, fellow narcissist and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre decided to retire for the third time in his career. Incredibly, nobody believed he would stay retired past the opening game of the 2010 National Football League season. Probably because he pulled the exact same crap the last two years. And wouldn’t you know it, Favre returned to the Vikings last week.

When it comes to North American professional sports, athletes’ egos and desire to be in the spotlight has become embarrassing. When coverage of these players starts to rival reality shows on MTV – I think about the same drama seen on “The Hills” and even more idiocy than the “Jersey Shore” – then we have a problem.

Central to this issue is the ludicrous salaries these players earn. This trend has really started in the past 15 years when player salaries started to skyrocket. When you are paid like royalty, you are going to get a little full of yourself– especially if, in the case of LeBron, you’re known as “King James.”

Shockingly, these guys actually have the audacity to say they aren’t making enough money. The NFL training camp has begun and, as usual, several players are ‘holding out’ on their contracts. In effect, players are threatening not to play this season unless they get paid more.

The big headline is New York Jets star Darrelle Revis’ hold out. He is considered the best cornerback in the NFL, so he feels like he should be paid like the best cornerback, which is reasonable. What isn’t reasonable is how he feels about his salary of roughly two million a year. He thinks 16 million a year, for 10 years, is his actual value. Doctors working to cure cancer don’t make that much.

Perhaps we should fault the owners and agents for this. These guys refer to the players like they are God’s gift to earth and sign them for stupidly large salaries.

If you saw the Vikings play last year, you witnessed Favre skirt team rules and try to run the team himself. He disobeyed his coach, by going back into a game that he was pulled out of.

Not to mention they allowed him to skip all of training camp before signing him. There has to be a few people in the Vikings dressing room that aren’t happy about having to work their tail off for months while Favre waltzes in whenever he damn well pleases.

Perhaps it is the fans that are responsible. Anyone who loves sports has at least one idol they adore. If I ever got the chance to meet Jerry Rice, I would probably squeal like a 13 year-old girl at a Justin Bieber concert.

But a lot of fans have started worshipping these players. If you have a big ego when you are treated like a king, imagine what it would be like when you are considered a god among men.

However, as much fault as there is for the agents, the teams and the fans, it all goes back to the individual. For every LeBron James, there are several like Steve Nash. For every Brett Favre, there are even more like Drew Brees. These are the guys who work hard at their craft, don’t complain about their salary, use their fame for good and stay the hell out of the spotlight.

For you egotists out there in the sporting world, it’s time to get your head straight. You may be physically impressive, but nothing about you is all that special.

LeBron, Brett and Darrelle, I think it is about time you each received a well earned reality check.

Ever taken the five-hour Via Rail trip from Toronto to Montreal? It’s not exactly an invigorating experience.

Some pass the time testing the arm rest’s structural integrity. Some plot revenge on

the seat-reclining oaf ahead of them. Some just sleep.

Toronto Argonauts offensive lineman Rob Murphy gets all xenophobic on the internet.

The story goes like this. On the Argonaut’s train ride to Montreal last week for the team’s inevitable drubbing — it was only 41-10 this time — at the hands of the league-best Alouettes, Murphy chose to bide his time on twitter, freely sharing his opinions of our country’s storied francophone heritage. He’s since deleted the tweets, but once upon a time they read like this:

“At train station… Pumped to be smelling foreigners this early in the A.M. They smell less offensive this way… little known fact.”

Followed shortly thereafter by…

“Ok… the novelty of riding on a train thru Ontario and “Frenchland” has worn out… get me off this damn thing!!!!”

After the ensuing backlash, Murphy — who has since made his twitter account private, meaning only those who he approves can follow him — defended himself on the social network, saying he was just trying to be funny.

“Obviously my recent tweets have gotten blown out of proportion. […] I’m sorry if I offended anyone by my recent comments. I was JOKING around.”

Both the Argos and the CFL don’t seem to share Murphy’s, um, unique sense of humour. They both fined the 33-year-old under the league’s social media policy, making Murphy the first player to be punished under the act.

Were Murphy’s comments, say, offensive? Sure. Misguided? Of course. But they weren’t unlike anything else that’s freely available on Twitter and, in a larger sense, the internet. The web is ungoverned and — in most areas of the world — uncensored which means it has the dubious ability to turn into a global dumping ground for all the world’s sexism, racism, homophobia and good ol’ general hate. It’s not a particularly good thing, but it is what it is. The positives of the internet far outweigh the negatives.

The problem with Murphy’s case is that he’s a professional athlete. He’s not just representing himself — which would make it okay for him to be as offensive and disparaging as he pleases. He’s representing the Toronto Argonauts, the Canadian Football League and Canadian football itself. You just can’t say whatever you want.

That’s why the league instituted its social media policy last season as more and more of its athletes began experimenting with twitter. Any comments players make on twitter are considered public and subject to discipline. The league also took the step of banning players’ twitter usage from 20 minutes before a game until 20 minutes after the game.

What the CFL would like to protect here is the romantic idea that the locker room at half time looks like Any Given Sunday.

It’s a nice image. Players huddle around each other, nervously clenching water bottles with nary a smile in the room — focusing purely on the game and what to do in the second half.

The CFL certainly doesn’t want fans to think that when players enter the locker room the first thing they pick up is their Blackberry — not their playbook.

But it’s clear that minds may be wandering in game. Saskatchewan’s Tad Kornegay tweeted during halftime of the 2009 Grey Cup and several athletes from other sports (Charlie Villanueva and Shaquille O’Neal to name a couple) have taken to their smart phones during down time to keep themselves — and, of course, all of us — entertained.

And what we have right there is the fine line that professional leagues like the CFL must tread. The positives that come from having their athletes participate in the world of social media are too large to ignore. Allowing players to interact with fans and show their personalities outside of post-game clichés is an exceptionally good thing — especially now that everyone and their arrogant cat have Twitter.

But it’s increasingly hard for leagues to control their athletes’ public image when they are free to roam within social media. And any league executive will tell you that in professional sports, public perception is absolutely paramount.

Figuring out how to walk that line makes the art of what and when to tweet still a bit tricky for the CFL and its athletes. The good news is that several current stars (Avon Cobourne, Arland Bruce, Byron Parker) and even a couple former ones (Damon Allen, Wally Buono) have figured it out.

As we carry on in the social media era there will surely be more public missteps — rule number one of professional sports is that athletes will do silly things. But the CFL knows twitter is a good thing for their league and don’t be surprised if they start encouraging more of their athletes to open accounts.

Let’s just say that players shouldn’t skip the ‘right and wrong times to express xenophobia’ session during media training.

E-mail Arden at arden@westerngazette.ca . You can also follow him on Twitter at @ArdenAtGazette

A couple notes today — one from the pros and two from close to home.

Jose Bautista

Well this has worked out well, now hasn’t it.

Acquired by former Blue Jays general manager JP Ricciardi in 2008 for a player to be named later — the player turned out to be switch-hitting catcher Robinson Diaz, who is now a minor leaguer treading water in the Detroit Tigers organization — Jose Bautista can’t be labeled as anything less than a smashing success.

Currently leading the league in home runs on Wednesday morning  with 30 — he’s probably smacking a couple more right now as I write this — Bautista has the most dingers of any professional baseball player since last September. More than Ryan Howard. More  than Mark Teixeira. More than Alex Rodriguez. You get the point.

That’s why the Blue Jays have to get rid of him. Soon.

If Jose Bautista is still on the Blue Jays roster after the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline, the Jays will have made a huge mistake.

Look, by all accounts Bautista is a really good guy and a fantastic comeback story, but everyone and their escaped boa constrictor knows that the guy is hitting way over his head. Eventually, his production will slow down and return to his career norms. Remember, he’s never hit more than 24 home runs — he did it in 2oo5 in double-A — in any season at any level in his career. The time to cash in on Bautista’s inflated value is now when his stock is through the roof — before it comes crashing back down to earth.

Bautista turns 30 this year, which is typically the age where power number decline. The exceptions to that rule come, of course,  during the steroids era when, well, you know how that story goes.

No matter what any of the mouth-breathers who phone radio call-in shows say, the Blue Jays are not going to contend this year or next. If Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos is savvy, he’ll trade Bautista now for quality young ball players who can help the team down the road when it’s ready to challenge for a playoff spot.

Noteworthy Mustangs

Aa always, your Western Mustangs are hard at work over the summer, training for their upcoming seasons and participating in events around the continent.

Unfortunately we only had one summer issue this year — sorry, I couldn’t stop the frisbee thing — so we weren’t able to shine as much light on their goings-on as we have in the past, but here’s a couple stories you should check out.

Jacqueline Rennebohm, a visually-impaired Mustangs track and field athlete, set a Canadian record in the 200m at a track meet in Windsor earlier this month with a time of 28.6 seconds, besting the previous record by more than two milliseconds.

The second-year social sciences major — whose eyes can only detect colour and motion from objects five feet away — works with a running guide and competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a paralympic swimmer.

Taylor Stewart, a London native, won a bronze medal at the 2010 IAAF Track and Field World Junior Championships last week.

The 19-year-old, entering his first year at Western, lept 7.63 metres to secure the medal.

I’ve been hearing about Stewart around London for some time now and everyone who sees him compete thinks he’s going to be a star. He’s one to watch this year.

E-mail Arden at arden@westerngazette.ca . You can also follow him on twitter at @ArdenAtGazette

The Western men’s golf team headed East to take part in the Canadian University/College Golf Championships held at Kingswood Park in New Brunswick at the beginning of June.

For fourth-year Mustang Andrew Zanatta, expectations were high going into the final tournament of his Western career.

“We have five really solid players,” he said. “I knew that if we all played well we would have a really good shot at contending in this championship.”

The Mustangs had a strong outing on the first day, third on the leader board with three golfers shooting one under par. However, heavy rain and tough playing conditions proved costly as Western slid down the board to tenth place overall with a combined score of +38.

“We had an early morning start and it rained until noon, and our scores showed it. We fell out of the top five. With the same rain and early morning start on day three, we fell back to tenth,” Jim Waite, Mustangs head coach, said. “This is a solid team and we were only a few shots out of sixth place.”

Zanatta and third-year social science student Johnny Hall led the way for the Mustangs finishing tied for 21st place, each shooting six over par.

“I played well throughout the week, but just made some simple mistakes that cost me a few shots.” Hall said.  “I was in contention after the first two rounds and being in contention is all you can ask for.”

Rounding out the results for the Mustangs was 47th place finisher Alex Hrycko (+12), followed by Greg Gabel (+18) and team captain Charles Fitzsimmons (+20).

“Fitzsimmons did not have a great tournament. Normally he is the leader on the team in scoring, but had an off week, shooting in the high 70′s in all three rounds,” Waite said about his captain’s disappointing result. “[However], there is no question that he will be there to lead us again this coming year.”

After a successful 2009 campaign, the Mustangs hope to challenge for the Ontario University Association title again this year. However, the men’s golf team will undergo a lot of changes before the upcoming season begins, with three of their five starters graduating.

“We have several guys with a couple of years experience with the ‘B team’ who are ready to step in to join Fitzsimmons and Hall. We also have several inquiries from excellent players who are coming to Western,” Waite said. “If they are as good as their resumes, we will be in great shape for another excellent season.”

Zanatta also believes the future looks promising for the men’s golf team.

“This was my last event with the Mustangs golf team, but I still expect the team to be contenders not only in OUA golf, but also on the national stage.”

When Canadian national soccer team head coach Stephen Hart announced his lineup for Canada’s recent exhibition series in South America, he made sure to include the usual suspects. Names such as Dwayne De Rosario, Julian De Guzman, Pat Onstad and, of course, Haidar Al-Shaibani.

Soccer fans at Western may be wondering why that last name sounds so familiar.

“Haidar is the best goalkeeper we’ve had at Western since I’ve been here. He had a tremendous career here at Western,” Mustangs head coach Rock Basacco said.

Al-Shaibani is the star goalie who took the Mustangs to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championship twice. He’s the same goalie who was a four-time Ontario University Athletics all-star, first-team all-Canadian and a national championship all-star.

But how on Earth did he go from Western to the Canadian national team?

After graduating from Western in 2008, the Algerian-born goalkeeper signed a contract with Nîmes Olympiques, a second-division French club, catapulting him into the ranks of professional soccer.

“It took me a year to sign with them. I was on trial with [London City and the North York Astros] to get ready and then last summer, I got a call from the coach [Jean Michel Cavalli]. They were interested in seeing me,” Al-Shaibani said. “I went over there and had a match and they liked me. I trained with them for a while and then signed a contract.”

“He always wanted to play professionally. His work ethic is second to none. He worked on every aspect of his game to make it happen,” Basacco added.

Since earning the contract with Nîmes Al-Shaibani has started six times, allowing a mere five goals and shutting out two teams.

Despite his impressive run of form with his club team, Al-Shaibsani never thought he would be suiting up for Canada so quickly.

“It wasn’t a surprise [that I got called up]. But I didn’t think it would happen at this point in my career. To get it this early is a good thing, though,” he said.

Despite having the opportunity to play for other countries, such as the country of his birth, Al-Shaibani jumped at the chance to play for Canada. Of course, having the chance to learn alongside long-time Canadian goalkeepers Pat Onstad and Josh Wagenaar may have made the decision easier to make.

“It was a really good opportunity. It showed me a different level. It’s very different when you play for your country instead of your club. It’s a different atmosphere and different type of training. I got the chance and I learned a lot,” he said.

Though he would not play in the 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Argentina, Al-Shaibani was substituted into the second game against Venezuela. Down a goal when he entered the game, Al-Shaibani used his time to shut out the South Americans, enabling Canada to come back and tie the game.

“It was a great result for Canada and for Haidar. He earned his first cap and played well,” Basacco said.

He will now return to France to get ready for the upcoming season at Nîmes. With the taste of the success he has had thus far, Al-Shaibani intends to work even harder to make sure the accolades keep coming.

“It was a hard road [to get to where I am]. When it pays off, you get that weight lifted off your chest and it’s satisfying,” he said. “But it isn’t enough. You can’t stop going. You always have to move on and look for the next challenge. I’m hoping to help my club move on to the French first division.”

Al-Shaibani will have to keep on top of his game if he hopes to get the nod from coach Hart, especially with the 2011 Gold Cup – North America’s regional championsip — on the horizon.

“It’s open and the opportunity is there. I don’t know for sure, but if I continue to perform well and train hard, it’s always possible. I have to be ready and wait for the call,” he said.

“People are stuck in the idea of a dog on a beach when they hear ‘Frisbee,’” Mark Lloyd, ultimate player and next year’s co-captain for Western’s team, said.

So, ultimate is more than just throwing around a Frisbee?

“After running around for an hour or more, or getting torched by a nice strike deep into the end zone, or laying out for that perfectly led throw, [you will] know both the fitness required and the strategy developed to play competitively,” Campus Recreation manager Gareth Cunningham, another ultimate player, said.

To the uninitiated, ultimate appears to be nothing more than catching a frisbee. But to players, it’s a competition requiring an immense amount of athletic ability and dedication — an activity viewed not only as a sport, but as a lifestyle.

Previously known as ultimate Frisbee, the game is played in over 80 countries and is one of the fastest growing sports in North America.

“I have played a multitude of sports, [and] ultimate blows every other sport away in terms of the atmosphere,” Jordan Meron, a member of Canada’s under-23 women’s ultimate team, said. “You can play on a team for a week and feel comfortable with each and every person.”

However, ultimate faces an uphill battle in its quest to be viewed alongside more recognized sports. Players insist the problem doesn’t lie with the sport itself, but with the lack of awareness about it.

“All of the people who don’t think that ultimate is a real sport just don’t know enough about it,” Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood, a second-year student in media, information and technoculture, said. “Ultimate is growing, and as players we’re all ambassadors for the sport and we do our best to make people aware.” Mertins-Kirkwood will co-captain alongside Lloyd next year on Western’s team, the Sharks.

So how is this sport played?

To start, ultimate is a non-contact team sport. The game is played seven-on-seven, with the object of the game requiring the movement of the disc downfield until it is caught in the opposing team’s end zone. Possession of the disc switches if the disc is caught out of bounds, intercepted or touches the ground. Once the disc is caught, the player has 10 seconds to pass it to another team member.

According to Mertins-Kirkwood, teamwork is absolutely essential to succeed.

“Once you catch the disc and establish a pivot foot you can’t lift that foot until you’ve passed the disc, so one player can’t dominate the game in the same way an ‘Ovechkin’ or a ‘LeBron’ can carry it end-to-end.”

The rules are relatively simple and since the only equipment needed is a pair of cleats, ultimate is a relatively budget-friendly sport to get involved in. Plus, with proponents of the sport claiming it combines the best elements of soccer, basketball, volleyball and football, ultimate creates a new hybrid sport that immediately hooks players.

“When I started playing ultimate in grade nine I knew almost right away that this was my sport and I haven’t really looked back,” Mertins-Kirkwood said.

A frequent criticism of ultimate is its lack of referees, with the sport instead relying on putting the integrity of the game into players’ hands — the “spirit of the game” as it’s known in the inner circles of ultimate.

“Since there is no officiating in ultimate, players need to be honest about their calls on both offence and defense,” Meron said. “In my opinion, ‘spirit of the game’ is just another word for good sportsmanship.”

At Western, ultimate has established itself in both recreational and competitive divisions. According to Cunningham, intramural ultimate is offered in both the summer and fall terms. Each year sees up to 70 teams registered, amounting to around 850 participants.

“For at least the past five years, [it] has been a very popular intramural sport opportunity at Western Campus Recreation,” Cunningham said. “I believe the popularity is here to stay, and in fact will only grow over the years.”

Recently, the Western Sharks men’s team was a dominant force at the intercollegiate level, winning the 2009 Canadian Eastern University Ultimate Championships and placing second at the Canadian University Ultimate Championships.

But at a university  like Western, where varsity sports like football and hockey dominate the campus, ultimate remains stuck in the shadows, unable to escape the social and cultural biases preventing it from being considered a “real sport.”

“Anyone who has ever played ultimate at a higher level will immediately try to defend ultimate’s legitimacy as a sport seeing as they know the athletic ability needed to compete and succeed,” Lloyd said.

Mertins-Kirkwood agreed the best way to defend ultimate’s legitimacy isn’t by pulling out a rulebook or by reciting the history of the Frisbee. Instead, they invite all the doubters to come out and watch a game.

“If you take any of those people and make them watch a high level game of ultimate, they’ll immediately reconsider their position,” Mertins-Kirkwood said.

Ultimate has a long way to go before it joins the ranks of the ‘Big Four’ in the sporting world. But thanks to positive strides, it’s possible that ultimate will one day receive the same amount of respect given to more established sports.

“Everything that it takes to play a sport like hockey or soccer is also needed to play ultimate, and people are beginning to see that,” Meron said. “If you look back at where the sport was 10 and 20 years ago, you would be blown away by the progress it has made.”

The future of the Canadian Football League looks bright.

In a game that showcased the very best Canadian Interuniversity Sport football has to offer, special teams prevailed as the East team came out on top 12-9, earning its second victory in the eight year history of the East-West Bowl.

Weather was a major factor, as the teams were forced to play through heavy rain, wind upwards of 50 kilometres per hour and even brief spurts of snow, making it tough for either side to muster any offence.

In a game that was filled with errors, including four fumbles and two interceptions, special teams was the difference, with Laval kicker Christopher Milo putting 10 points on the board for the East.

“The game was definitely a special team’s battle,” East and Queen’s Gaels head coach Pat Sheahan said. “Better weather would’ve been great, but the whole week has been a great experience for everyone involved.”

University of Regina quarterback Marc Mueller kept the West team in the game, throwing 16-of-34 for 227 yards and the game’s only touchdown in his two quarters of action.

“The whole week has been a great experience,” Mueller said. “It’s a chance you have to relish and take full advantage playing against the best players the [CIS] has to offer.”

Nick Cicchini, an offensive lineman from the University of Windsor, echoed Mueller’s thoughts.

“Going up against the best players in the country— you get to see how you stack up against them. You get to see what it takes, and having so many coaches here you learn a lot from their experience and knowledge,” he said.

The game is also crucial for the CFL scouts to see the potential of the CIS athletes.

“The game’s a great way to look at talent,” Tim Fleiszer, representative of the Gil Scott Sports Agency, said. “You can only look at so much game tape. Everything is pretty vanilla on both sides of the ball, so it’s a great way to see how guys react on their own skill. It’s also the only game where you have the best players of the CIS playing, so it’s important for everyone involved.”

If there’s one person who knows what it takes to make it to the CFL, it’s Fleiszer. The former first overall pick in the 1998 CFL draft went on to win four Grey Cups in his nine-year career.

The players are also aware of the importance of this game. With 24 players from last year’s game being selected in the 2010 CFL draft, any player with hopes of being drafted can improve their draft stock with a good showing during the week.

“Every time the players get on the field and work hard they improve their chances of being noticed and moving on to the next level,” West and University of Calgary head coach Blake Nill said.

“The scouting adds a little pressure, but it’s great,” Mustang defensive back Craig Butler said. “It adds a level of seriousness to [the game] and the testing during the week teaches you what to improve on.”

Western was well represented with five players on the West roster, including Mustangs linebacker John Surla who led the defence with 9.5 tackles and a sack. Butler contributed 4.5 tackles in a strong defensive effort.

“A different outcome would’ve been great, but the whole week has been a great experience on and off the field,” Butler said. “You talk with guys throughout the country, get different viewpoints on your game, and see what you need to improve on to help your team and move on to the next level.”

Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall had previously stated a desire to bring the game back to TD Waterhouse Stadium and everyone involved was quick to praise the first class manner in which the entire event was run.

“The game certainly helps player development and they all learn from one another,” Sheahan said. “It’s great for the CFL, university programs and the players.”